I have recently started building my engineer up since I have my HA maxxed out, I am looking for a guide on the different eng guns for Vanu.. Pros and Cons on each of them, he has a shotgun but I am really looking for something with more range, something similar to the SV88, Pulsar, or Flare for the HA... anyone got a link to a thread where this has been discussed? Or a video? Search functionality seems to be sucking for me right now, and I am too lazy to search the pages by hand ;-P So, this is where I newbishly hope you will do it for me !!! lol Thanks ahead of time ;-)
NOTE: I wrote all of this before I saw you were looking for links and stuff; don't have those, sorry, just my opinions and experiences. Well, if you already have the shotgun, you could try out slug round ammunition; it's only 100 certs. The VS shotguns with slugs don't have any bullet drop (though I understand they travel slower than other factions' slugs), kill in 3-4 shots (or 1 headshot plus another shot somewhere). They aren't that good for close range, though. Very powerful at range, I would consider it comparable to our default sniper (but better; no sway, better hipfire). If you want something that still has more range than the default Solstice, but want something a bit more versatile than slug-shotgun, I recommend you trial the Pulsar-C. It's kind of like our NC gun; slower rate of fire, higher damage per bullet. I think (should probably double-check) you can get up to a 6x scope on it, too. If you single fire, it's possibly the best VS carbine at range. Pretty sure it has the highest base velocity of the VS carbines, and you can even cert into High Velocity rounds (it also has access to the adv/lvl2 foregrip). I hear the Eidolon (battle rifle) is pretty good. I don't know too much about it, though, but the HA can use it also. Not sure how it compares to the slug round shotgun. On my engineer, I use the VX6-7 mainly, though I sometimes use sluggun or Pulsar-C. The VX6-7 is more for CQC, though. It has the slowest projectile speed of the VS carbines, but it has pretty little recoil. Overall, though, it's for CQ, which it sounds like you don't want. In a short bit: Pulsar-C is longest range carbine.
Solstice SF (Special Forces) is the best all-around engineer weapon you can get. Why? Grenade Launcher. It combines the ability to switch between three firing modes (burst, full auto, single fire), along with every weapons attachment you can think of (smoke grenade, regular grenade, and underslung shotgun), and all the sights to go with it. It does good damage, excellent at long range, and solid close-quarters combat potential, with light AT (with the Grenade Launcher) and area clearing abilities. By -far- the best carbine you can get as a Vanu. Now, as for the Eidolon? It's B'dass. It's a fantastic weapon that I use specifically for counter-sniping.
Ok, I'll talk about all the weapons I have. I'm assuming maximum use of attachments on all: Default Solstice. Decent all rounder, no real weaknesses but nothing special either. Limited options of special ammo and attachments. Solstice SF. A throwaway weapon if it wasn't for the under-barrel grenade (which is really strong, when it works properly). As a weapon it has worse characteristics than the default Solstice, but people just noob tube with it with the under-barrel. Pick this if you want to mimic HA firing dumpfire rockets on infantry. Solstice Burst. Don't have it yet Pulsar C. This is the closest weapon you can get to a NC carbine. Highest damage combined with high accuracy at mid range and firing speed that makes it easy to adjust to firing at moving targets. While it's extremely strong for medium distance full auto head shots, it lacks the kick needed in close quarters. Pick this if you're aiming more than hip-firing. VX6-7. The best all around close quarters carbine currently available. Almost as strong as a shotgun in stopping power. The only drawback is that it eats ammo at insane speed and that it fires so fast that if you misjudge your aim, you waste your entire clip. Reload speed is fast though. Pick this if you're hip-firing more than aiming. Serpent. A bit faster firing than VX6-7, it shares the same drawbacks with it with the addition of twice the reload speed. It is really easy to get killed while reloading with this weapon. Not recommended. Eidolon. Is a weird case. It's decent medium to long range weapon. The slow projectile makes hitting moving targets hard. Very situational weapon (no real use outside outdoors Esamir). Pick this for longer than medium range engagements. Shotguns. I use Thanatos but most of the things apply to all shotguns. First thing first, put slugs on the shotgun. Congratulations, now you have a weapon that can 3-shot body shot at medium distances (can be used at any distance you'd fire your carbine). To get an idea of the range increase, you can kill somebody at the bottom of a tech plant while you being at the very top. Good for not exposing yourself (the time exposed compared to a carbine is minimal), good for killing maxes, very good as expected in close quarters. VS shotguns don't have bullet drop off at distance. Pick this for the above mentioned reasons. Personally I use weapons depending on the enemy. When facing NC, I almost always go shotgun, their weapons hit too hard not too, plus they are slow firing enough so my shotgun shots don't get affected as much by flinching. When facing TR, I go carbines though.
Pulsar C is my favorite weapon in the game right now by a good margin, it has been since i first tried it, back when it was called the xm-8whatever back in beta. It hits hard, has really tight burst fire over a long range, and overall just feels great. It starts out awesome, but with upgrades it becomes utterly ungodly. It supports a advanced foregrip, and each foregrip gives a dramatic performance increase. There's also the compensator, which allows you to use full auto at longer ranges without the negative effects. Most people would say it's atrocious at hipfire, but I'd have to disagree; when fired in bursts from the hip, it's high stopping power still gets the job done under most circumstances. You're going to lose against an equally skilled enemy with a cqc weapon at that range most of the time, but if you're any good, that's pretty rare. But yeah, if you're looking for a great gun for mid-long range, pulsar c poops on the competition.
Ive used Serpent, but the reload speed is too long. Now hipfire VX6-7 (soft ammo, adv laser, reflex and silencer).
SF is actually "select fire." It fires in semi- full- and 3-round burst mode. Of course I never use that. I go between the Serpent (advanced laser, 3.4x optics) and the Solstice SF (underbarrel GL, HV ammo, compensator, 2x reflex). I like the Serpent because it has huge burst damage due to its high RoF, has extremely low recoil, and has excellent hip accuracy due to the adv. laser. The 3.4x sight is a controversial choice, but I figure the only other reasonable choice (1x reflex) is a little redundant due to the high hip accuracy. Once you learn to control recoil (it pulls left) you can make some decent long shots through the 3.4x just due to volume of lead (I mean plasma). It is a very similar weapon to the VX6-7 and which you choose is a matter of taste. The VX6-7 has less fire rate and more recoil, but even better hip accuracy and more predictable recoil (pulls right). It also has shorter reloads, but both the Serpent and VX6-7 have long reloads compared to the Solstice, and I don't find the difference between the 2 in this area matters. If you have to reload and can't find cover, you are dead anyway (or you switch to pistol in close quarters which is what I do). If you can find cover, the half-second diff does not really matter. EDIT: The VX6-7 does not have twice the reload speed. The exact figures are 2.7s (VX) vs. 3.8s (Serpent) for a full magazine. The reason to choose one vs. the other (IMO) is not reload speed but rate of fire (advantage Serpent) vs. hip fire accuracy and more predictable recoil (advantage VX). I do not use soft point ammo because I like to use the 3.4x sight to make longer kills, and soft point ammo starts doing less damage than normal ammo at about 35m. For close quarters work it can be nice, although it does suffer a little but from a "maths" problem. Without going into too much detail, even though SP ammo does more damage per bullet close in, there are very few cases where it's enough more damage that it actually takes *fewer bullets* to kill someone. The Solstice SF is nice. It has a relatively slow (compared to Serpent/VX) RoF, but has low recoil and is more controllable at mid-long range. With HV ammo you can make some pretty decent longer-range kills. The underbarrel GL has some bugs which can make it annoying to use, namely that it sometimes does not reload from ammo packs and sometimes the burst damage acts...weird, like you'll think you hit someone and it does no damage (that last one seems a lot more rare than it used to be though). I still like it. I make a lot of one-shot kills or at least seriously soften someone to finish them off with primary fire or pistol. Another interesting configuration for the Solstice SF is smoke grenade launcher and HSNV optics (which see through smoke). I used to use the Eidolon and it was actually my first gold medal of any Engy weapon. I still like it, but just kinda haven't used it in a while. I have an affection for high-bullet-damage semi-auto weapons though and the Eidolon can be really nice if you learn how to use it. I have counter-sniped many an Infiltrator.
That one and a half second is really noticeable in CQC. Full stats can be found: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...INE&sortcolid=-1&sortasc=true&rowsperpage=250 I'm working on the auraxium medal for the Serpent atm. Easiest by far to get the medal was the Pulsar C.
I'll put my two cents in I've just gotten the VX6-7 with the advanced laser sight. Can you thread a needle while hip-firing your carbine? I can The only downside to the VX6-7 that I see is it's recoil while aiming, it's a bit harsh but you get used to it and once you do you have a short/mid range BEAST!
i really like my nova, the semi auto gives you more control over the crazy recoil imho, extended mags and swap between slugs/scatter depending on the situation i have the solstice SF (got it for the nade launcher, was hoping smoke will be worthwhile at some point) for really long ranges 4x scope when im supporting a tank line to help keep snipers and HA's heads down. rarely get a kill with it but a few shots will usually drop their shields and send them to cover or break a lock on attempt
I love the Pulsar C. Use it with iron sights (quick aiming), compensator, advanced foregrip and standard ammo. Brilliantly versatile weapon.
I can sign that, I've been using the VX6-7 on my engi and LA, and once you get used to it you have a really powerful beast in your hands. But keep in mind, it really only is short-mid range, anything at long range is just....not worth giving a shot.
This may sound ********, but I've gotten more kills with this setup than anything: Solstice SF, with SP ammo, 3.4x chevron sight (VMS?), compensator, grenade launcher. Camo of your choice. Ammo kit, AV turret, grenades, ammo bandolier, the whole nine yards. the SF has decent hipfire, ROF is ok and the SP ammo helps make up the CQC DPS. You can easily take out or scare the crap out of a MAX with good GL aim or wreck crowds of people, and the scope allows you to make the select fire useful for a decent range. If you choose this setup, build in this order: 1) SP ammo 2) Compensator 3) GL 4) 3.4x scope The SP ammo is the most important of the lot because the SF's DPS isn't great and needs the help. Even though you have the scope later on, I still wouldn't run HV Ammo, because the kick is excessive for midrange, and you need that extra DPS for CQC. You shouldn't aim to use this as a long range carbine, but the scope helps if you are being attacked at range. Final bonus, it all carries over to your Light Assault, so you can combine all that gun with C4 to MAX crashes easily
I've been having a lot of fun with the following loadouts: Pulsar C: IR/NV Scope. Compensator. Adv. Forward Grip. HVA. Serpent: IR/NV Scope. No barrel attatchment. Forward Grip. SPA. People also seem to really like the VX6-7 a lot, so maybe that's worth a try. And I haven't purchased it yet on my VS char, but a battle rifle is a great idea if you fight a lot in open fields, where you can use your turret as cover, and shoot away at people that are using full auto weapons.
personaly got the solstice burst for outside use with a 3.4 scope and forward grip (saving up for high vel ammo). took some getting used to since it doesnt have a full auto but it hits nicely at medium to long ranges. for inside/close range use i got a serpent, though im thinking of going VX6-7 for inside use, or possibly a shotgun. the reload time on the serpent has gotten me killed more then once. the only advice i can really give is find a weapon that suits your playstyle. VR training can give you a bit of a grasp of the accuracy over range, effects of different ammo types and it can help you find a prefered scope.
when you say Solstice Burst, please tell me you mean the Solstice SF and didn't waste 100 certs on the Solstice Burst. The burst is just an EXACT COPY of the standard, no point in using it. I rarely use burst on the SF anyways.
Pulsar C is a medium range surgical tool. 3.4x chevron + Compensator + foregrip + HVA. Ridiculously effective at medium range due to its controllability. Fire in ~5 round bursts with practiced recoil control. I find it's more reliable than NC's Razor, but similar to T5 AMC while doing more damage per shot.
Is not! They used to be the way you describe, but then all burst carbines/ARs received buffs across the board. All burst carbines have less horizontal recoil than Mercenary, and that's saying a lot. They also get access to HVA, and have tighter CoFs, and remain very accurate on the move. Solstice burst is not without problems, though, it suffers from extreme FSRM of 2.8x, which makes really hard hitting all three rounds in a burst at range. Hoping for a second buff that will reduce FSRMs of burst weapons to 1x at the cost of having an artificial delay between bursts.
